Young South Asian males face higher risk of diabetes with modest weight gain: Glasgow University

South Asians prone to diabetes at lower body mass index

A recent study by University of Glasgow shows that modest weight gain causes significantly worse metabolic effects in young South Asian men.

A recent research raises alarm over the vulnerability of young South Asian males to Type 2 diabetes, saying that they have far worse metabolic effects with even minor amount of weight gain.

The research, conducted by scientists at Glasgow University, reveals  that even a small increase in weight triggers more severe metabolic consequences in South Asians compared to European men and this makes South Asians more prone to developing Type 2 diabetes than other ethnic groups.

The statement adds that South Asians, who make up a quarter of the global population, have 3-5 times the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes compared to white Europeans. They also develop diabetes at much lower BMIs, as a South Asian with a BMI of 22 kg/m² has the same diabetes risk as a white European with a BMI of 30 kg/m².

Glasgow says that the adverse metabolic effects of weight gain in South Asian men seem linked to their larger fat cells at baseline and changes in small fat cells. Unlike white Europeans, South Asians could not grow small fat cells during weight gain, leading fat to accumulate in areas like the liver, which can cause harmful metabolic consequences.

The statement adds that modest weight gain caused significant metabolic issues in South Asian men, while white Europeans showed a buffering effect. Insulin sensitivity dropped by 38 pc in South Asians, but only by 7 pc in Europeans.

“We were keen to try and better understand why South Asian people are at a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, even with lower BMIs, than their white European counterparts. We found that when young, lean white European men gained a little weight about 5 kg they did not experience any substantial adverse metabolic consequences, but when young, lean South Asian men gained the same amount of weight, they started to exhibit metabolic dysfunction. Insulin sensitivity decreased by 38 pc in South Asians, but only by 7 pc in white Europeans, indicating that South Asians were not able to buffer against the adverse effects of weight gain in the way that their white European counterparts were able to. This appears to be related, at least in part, to differences in the size of fat cells between the South Asian and white European men and how they respond to the effects of weight gain,” says Professor Jason Gill of Cardiometabolic Health at the University of Glasgow.

“The South Asian men had more large fat cells and the very small fat cells that they had were less able to grow in size as they put on weight. Both these factors were related to the adverse metabolic changes with weight gain. Another interesting observation was that when the European men put on weight, they put on some lean tissue as well as fat tissue, but the South Asian men essentially just put on fat tissue. This may be important, as increasing lean tissue may help protect against the some of the adverse effects of weight gain, as sugar is cleared from the blood in lean tissue, or muscle. Our study’s findings reinforce the need for the prevention of weight gain in South Asian men, in order to prevent further risk of type 2 diabetes,” says Dr James McLaren, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow’s Undergraduate Medical School.

The research is named as GlasVegas,  published in Nature Metabolism, examined 14 young South Asian men and 21 white European men, all of normal weight, before and after an overfeeding protocol to gain approximately 5 kg. The research, was funded by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations (EFPIA) and the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI).